Author Topic: Hello and advice needed! :)  (Read 994 times)

NurseLucy

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Hello and advice needed! :)
« on: 11:59:02, 01/03/21 »
 :D Hey! My name is Lucy and I'm new to the group.... I'm from South Yorkshire and I've been hiking for 11 years now! Been pretty much everywhere around the UK.
Has anyone hiked Crib Goch? I need some advice please!  ;)

richardh1905

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #1 on: 16:46:37, 01/03/21 »
Hi Lucy, and welcome to the forum from South Cumbria :)


I've climbed Crib Goch a few times, but many decades ago, an airy scramble, but not too hard. What kind of advice are you looking for?
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vghikers

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #2 on: 19:21:08, 01/03/21 »
Welcome from south Manchester  :)

We did the Crib Goch arete many moons ago, the general advice is to avoid wet and/or windy conditions.
Also, assuming you are doing it the conventional way round from the Pen-y-pass end, getting there extremely early will minimize the chances of a standoff against those perverse people coming the other way!.

BuzyG

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #3 on: 14:46:23, 02/03/21 »
Hi Lucy.  If not already done, then take a look on Google earth. Crib Goch is one of those areas where they have radar scanned the area and is shown in great detail.  It's not a walk it's a scramble and as Richard said one for early on a fine day. Assuming you have a fair head for heights. That said I have never done it. I turned up with my son intending to do it. However on a poor wet windy day, I would say, it's not a safe place to be without knowing the route, a partner and some basic climbing gear, even for an the experienced hill walker.  So we passed it by. Hope you have better luck.  O0

Skip

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #4 on: 20:51:58, 02/03/21 »
. . . Crib Goch? I need some advice . . .

OK, ask away.

Welcome to WF
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NurseLucy

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #5 on: 21:07:15, 02/03/21 »
Hello everyone! And thank you for your replies!  ;)


Ok, so I'm heading up to Snowdon, June 1st and tackling Crib AND Snowdon in the same day (weather permitting) on June 2nd.


I am doing this entirely alone, as I just simply have no one else to go with  :-\


I was wondering if anyone else had done it, how long it took you and if you guys had any advice?? I have 2 OS Map apps on my phone, one of which is specifically for that area ( it's called Yr Wyddfa) in case I get lost. I'm usually pretty good with navi and orientation  O0


If it's bad weather I will not attempt Crib, especially alone. If this happens, is there another route to take to the summit of Snowdon from Pen y Pass, which is where I will be starting,  if there are spaces in the car park (i plan to start early - 6am ish!!)


Many thanks! L xxxxxxx




barewirewalker

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #6 on: 11:25:22, 03/03/21 »
Hi Nurse Lucy and welcome to the forum,
When I was 15 yrs old I camped with two school friends at the end of the Capel Curig Lake, walked to Pen y Pass climbed Crib Goch and walked the entire horseshoe and returned to our campsite. That was 62 years ago on a clear sunny day, but it was rather hot, there was no one else there and being the age we were we felt we had got away with doing something adults would rather frown on. When we got home I told my mother that we had managed to get up Snowden.

I made the mistake of following the only instructions of mountaineering I could afford, pre-war 2nd hand books from a junk shop, and walked in nailed boots, a pair of leather work boots, which I had nailed with proper mountaineering ironware, star muggers, clinkers and tricounis. An experience I look back on to mitigate any the modern-day discomforts.

Sadly you will not be the only person up there today, perhaps you will not be able to move as fast as I did with my friends, I did climb on the north face of Crib Goch a year later in my antique style boots with the school mountaineering club, then the weather was horrendous and the wind so strong I could not breath when facing into the wind.


I wish you joy doing the ridge, you would dream of doing the walk back to Capel Curig with today's traffic, that is something I would not longer bother with. ;D


BWW
Their Land is in Our Country.

Skip

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #7 on: 12:32:59, 03/03/21 »
Firstly, you've been hiking for 11 years but how much of that experience has been with scrambles? I would not recommend Crib Goch to a novice scrambler. But if you've done a few Grade Ones you should be ok.

Having said that you'll need a good head for heights. Much of the ridge is very exposed (not in the sense of being open to the weather but in the sense of having steep slopes or near-vertical drops immediately below the path). So although the route is mostly straightforward there are quite a few places where a slip or stumble could be fatal.

Here is some useful info from the British Mountaineering Council, including a video of the ridge.
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/how-to-scramble-crib-goch

The usual route is to follow the Pyg track to Bwlch Y Moch where you fork right to follow the steep path up to the ridge. From the far end of the ridge you follow well-trodden walkers' paths to the summit of Snowdon. For the return to Pen Y Pass follow the Pyg track or the Miner's track.

If the weather is not good enough to risk Crib Goch, you can walk a circular route from Pen Y Pass to the summit of Snowdon by going up the Pyg track and down the Miner's.

Your date of June 2 is a Wednesday so hopefully it won't be as busy as a weekend. It can be very crowded up there which causes frustration and delay. I'd advise getting to Pen Y Pass as early as you reasonably can - that way you stand a better chance of getting a parking space, you maximise the daylight hours, and - importantly - steal a march on the crowds.

As to timing, that depends on your fitness, pace, the weather, and how crowded it is on the day. The usual estimate from Pen Y Pass to Snowdon summit is roughly 4-6 hours. But if you are fit and experienced you'll probably do the whole walk in under six hours.

IMO Crib Goch is one of the best ridge walks south of the Highlands.  Not done the route for four years but hope to do it again this year. Anyway, good luck with it - enjoy  :)
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richardh1905

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Re: Hello and advice needed! :)
« Reply #8 on: 18:29:10, 03/03/21 »
What sort of experience do you have of scrambling, Lucy?
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